That note, that simple paper, ended up breaking me. All those pictures, the facts I had just read and those words, took me to the limit. My head began to spin, my breath was missing and I felt my heart falling out. The vision began to fail me and the fear of losing my life began to fill me. With awkward movements I took my phone, with the little vision I had left I tried to dial the emergency number; I managed to hear how they answered the call, but my voice could not get out. After what seemed like an eternity trying to say something, I lost consciousness.
The sound of a slight beep slowly pulled me out of the darkness of my mind. With work I opened my eyes and let time take care of my vision again; once my surroundings became clear I tried to find out where I was. The white walls and the few pieces of furniture, hidden in the depth of the night, accompanied by the sound of the machines made it clear to me that I was in a hospital room.
I tried to get up a couple of times without success, before a nurse came by my room; as soon as she noticed I was awake, she started calling the doctor to come see me. After a few moments I saw Mr White cross the threshold of the door in a hurry. He thanked the nurse for warning him and asked her to leave.
"How do you feel Raul?" He asks with remarkable concern in his voice. I stayed silent not knowing what to say, or whether it would be right to talk about what had happened. The doctor stared at me seriously for a couple of minutes, giving me some time to decide what to answer. However, before I could say anything, he gasped and opened his mouth.
"Your situation has to do with your mother’s shipment?" his question took me completely by surprise, taking me from amazement to distrust "What do you know about that? Did you send it?" I mused with anger in my voice. Before answering, Mr. White took a chair, settling it near the bed and sitting calmly.
He slowly removed his glasses and placed them in his shirt pocket. He took a long breath and stretched slightly before turning to see me. "I’m sorry I surprised you with my question," he began, noting sincere regret. "I didn’t send anything, and I have no idea what your mother’s up to," he said with a sympathetic smile. "So how do you know about the shipment?" I asked quietly. "I could see some of the things on the floor of the dining room, when I arrived at your apartment, after receiving your call," he said looking down. "My call" I said confused.
"It seems that when you tried to call 911 during your attack, you accidentally ended up calling me. When I heard no answer from you, I was about to finish the call, but I could hear a forced breath. Once I realized what was going on, I went through the information in your mother’s file, wrote down the address and hoped it would remain your address. When I came to knock on your door and when I heard no answer, I broke in. As soon as I found you, I called an ambulance and I dedicated myself to leaving you stable. While I was doing that I realized what you had around you and somehow managed to save everything before the ambulance arrived. Once the paramedics had you, I asked them to take you to my hospital," He finished talking without stopping looking at me.
Pondered his words for a moment. "Why?" his eyes opened to my question. "What do you mean?" he replied in an anxious tone. "I want you to explain to me why you hid everything before anyone else saw it, how you came to the conclusion that it was sent to me by my mother, the reason why you never offered treatment for her and... above all, the reason behind the fact that you wear the locket and my mother’s only family heirloom," I said almost in a threat.
The doctor under his gaze, placed between his fingers the locket that protruded slightly through the collar of his shirt, took it with force while breathing slowly and deeply a couple of times. After what seemed like an eternity, he hid the locket under his clothes, shook his head slightly and looked back at me.
He stood in awkward silence for a little longer and then opened his mouth. "Your mother and I met in this hospital, the day she left you to live on your own. As you know, back then her mind was completely shattered, so no one paid attention to what she was saying. One night, during my rounds, as I passed her room, I heard her cry as she repeated your name. I wanted to go in to calm her down, but I was paralyzed the moment I looked at her face and realized there wasn’t a speck of sadness in it. I just stood on the arch of the door and listened to her, muttered about your father, his family, the pain he caused her and many other things. This was repeated every night from that day on and only stopped when she was better mentally. I decided to talk to her then, waited for the night and went to her room. Initially she panicked when I said everything I knew, but I gradually gained her confidence. It was then that she told me she was aware of her health from the day of your birth, and had made peace with her impending death." His voice cut out when he said that.
He stop for a moment to dry a couple of tears that had formed in his eyes, he cleared his throat and continued. "After that, I was aware of the day when she learned of the death of that policeman and the worry that was born in her heart, but it was not until the day she got that blue box that she decided to do something to help you. She made a plan, hoping that, in case she was no longer present, you could pull through; though she never detail it. That is why, I hid everything and assumed it was sent to you by your mother," he said.
I stared at him as I assimilated what he had told me, trying to find out how sincere he was. Soon I realized that the answer to my last two doubts would be decisive to know how reliable he was. "Continue" I said rudely.
With a slight smile the doctor continued "Over the years, I got to know more about the kind of condition she had, and I convinced her to try a couple of treatments, but none was successful, and all we could do was to get her mind lost again. Your mother hated that to happen, so she made me promise that I would no longer look for a way to save her, I doubted, but in the end, I gave in. To ensure that no one tried to do anything, she called a lawyer and made her wish clear. That was why I didn’t mention any specific treatment and just name the things we would do to make her death less painful." He paused, watching me for a moment before moving on. "As for the locket" he said with doubt and meditating his next words "Just take back what belongs to my family".
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